There are several precautions you should take when considering if you should buy a sponsor-renovated apartment, real estate experts say.

Q. We are thinking of buying a co-op that was renovated by the sponsor. It's a middle-of-the-road renovation that isn't really our style but we're prepared to live with it for a few years until we can afford to redo it.

Our main concern, since the sponsor is a little on the sleazy side, is to make sure they didn't take any shortcuts, especially on the bathroom and kitchen.
What sort of things should we watch out for?

A. There are several, some more consequential than others, when looking at a sponsor apartment, say our experts. A sponsor apartment is a unit owned by the original owner or corporation responsible for turning a building from a rental into a co-op.

"You'd want to know that the renovations were legally permitted, approved by the board, and undertaken by licensed contractors," says real estate broker Gordon Roberts of Warburg Realty.

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Q. What are the best and worst kinds of businesses to lease out the commercial space beneath our co-op, in terms of quality of life for residents, financial security for our building, and resale value of apartments?

A. Our experts agree that grocery stores, restaurants and bars are typically the least desirable from a quality of life perspective.

Restaurants and bars in particular "have to be the worst because of late hours of operation, noise potential, and pest potential," says New York City real estate attorney Adam Stone of Regosin, Edwards, Stone & Feder. "They are also the types of businesses that have a smaller chance of succeeding and higher rate of turnover."

On top of that, they can do a number on resale values.

"Buyers have a strong bias against restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets and food shops because of garbage disposal, pest control and odor issues," says real estate broker Shirley Hackel of Warburg Realty.

Their concerns are well founded, says pest control expert Gil Bloom of Standard Pest Management. Moreover, he says, oftentimes a food establishment's need for "storage and, worse, refuse storage exceeds their allotted space, which can then spill over into building areas. These establishments can tax the waste system and discolor the exterior sidewalk with pest attracting grease and debris."

Real estate broker Gordon Roberts of Warburg Realty notes that though restaurants raise some serious concerns, these anxieties are not necessarily insurmountable.

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The kitchen is the most expensive room you’ll ever renovate, especially in NYC. Figure on $15,000 to $25,000 for an inexpensive renovation of the average
7-by-9-foot apartment-sized kitchen, $40,000 to $75,000 for a midrange job, and $100,000 and up for a top drawer do-over.

If you’re planning to sell within the next five years— before most kitchens tend to look dated or worn—here are a few tips for recovering as much of your investment as you can:

• Don’t put a luxury kitchen in a lower-end starter apartment—you probably won’t recover your investment. Generally speaking, try not to spend more than 5% of the sales price of your apartment. But don’t under-renovate, either.

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"A building with only 10-12 units usually doesn’t have much of a reserve fund or cash balance," says New York City closing attorney Adam Stone of Regosin, Edwards, Stone & Feder. "They often get by month to month and a benefit of that is keeping monthly common charges down. But if the building needs $100,000 for a new roof, for example, you know who they will come looking to for your share of that."

Hire an engineer to inspect the building, says Stone.

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What are the risks and benefits of buying into a building that's not professionally managed? Are there any specific questions I should ask to make sure the building is being run well?

A. The main advantage of a self-managed building is that, in theory, your monthly maintenance charges should be lower without a managing agent on the payroll. But these types of buildings--typically small ones without many units to share the cost of a managing agent--definitely demand a higher level of scrutiny, say our experts.

Let's start with the reserve funds, which tend to be on the skimpier side.

"A building with only 10-12 units usually doesn’t have much of a reserve fund or cash balance," says New York City closing attorney Adam Stone of Regosin, Edwards, Stone & Feder. "They often get by month to month and a benefit of that is keeping monthly common charges down. But if the building needs $100,000 for a new roof, for example, you know who they will come looking to for your share of that."

Hire an engineer to inspect the building, says Stone.

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A. While there is no clear answer to your question, our experts put forward several persuasive theories:

Liberal. "Given the choice between a liberal and a strict co-op board in general from a market perspective, it is better to have the liberal board," says Roberta Axelrod, a real estate broker and asset manager at Time Equities. "Purchasers want to be approved and sellers want their buyers approved. Owners want to be allowed maximum freedom to live in their units as they choose to and are wary of buildings that are overly restrictive. On the other hand, no one wants to buy into a building where owners can't pay their maintenance so there needs to be a balance between no review and a building that gets a reputation for being overly strict. It is always best to have a board which is in line with the norms of the market."

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"Often, European-style kitchens seek to maximize small spaces with seemingly non-traditional placements of appliances," she says. "The only instance in which this would negatively affect resale value is if the unit’s square footage allows for a larger kitchen. If the apartment does not permit a larger kitchen then it lessens the negative impact--but if it is possible to expand, buyers typically like to have standard size kitchen appliances and good size working spaces. For whatever reasons, tall, but narrow fridges seem okat if the space will only permit such."

If you own a condo, or in the rare co-op amenable to pied a terres, your eventual buyer may be a European looking for a pied a terre.

Manhattan appraiser Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel agrees that renovations should generally conform to local tastes.

"A rule that I and most appraisers live by is, 'The more personalized the upgrade, the less it contributes to the value of your home,'" says Miller, who presumably would express the same view of a koi pond installed in your living room.

"Highly personalized improvements tend to appeal to a smaller subset of your housing market than upgrades done in a neutral way," says Miller. "Neutral in this context means what most buyers in your market tend to want, not what you want. The more people there are who want a certain style of upgrade, the more they will pay for it."

Q. I've been trying to sell my Upper East Side one-bedroom for 4 months. I've had 6 open houses, no offers, and very little feedback one way or the other. I did everything my broker suggested in terms of staging, purging, and freshening, and lowered the price a total of 10%.
Right now it's just below the price that an apartment two floors under mine sold for last spring. (In case you were wondering, we are NOT affected by the Second Avenue subway construction.)
Any suggestions? How do I know if the problem is the price, the apartment, or the broker?

A. It's tough to tell without seeing your apartment and studying the comparables, say the experts, but price is the most likely culprit, particularly if you based your asking price on the spring sale in your building.

"Over the last few months, from the spring 2011 season to fall 2011, the market saw a substantial shift. In some cases prices were down 10 percent," says real estate broker Deanna Kory of The Corcoran Group.

More specifically to your situation, it's a buyer's market for Upper East Side one-bedrooms right now, says real estate broker Gordon Roberts of Warburg Realty.

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Q. I have a built-in banquette in my kitchen. Should I reupholster it before trying to sell my home?

A. If you have a kitchen banquette that’s covered with stained or worn fabric, it may be a good idea to reupholster it before opening your home to potential buyers.

“Oftentimes banquettes have a lot of food stains on them, or kids have been standing on them,” said Gordon Roberts, a managing director at Warburg Realty in New York. “They can just look really beat up. That can be a distraction if the rest of the kitchen is showing well.”

In that case, Mr. Roberts recommended re-covering it, because “it’s a relatively inexpensive thing to do, and it will freshen a kitchen up,” making the whole room look more appealing.

But if the rest of the kitchen is in poor condition as well, he said, reupholstering the banquette might not be such a good investment. “If the kitchen is really old and needs to be gutted,” he said, “then reupholstering the banquette is not going to save the day.”

Philip Gorrivan, a New York interior designer who frequently uses banquettes in his projects, said that they can be a good selling point because they are a very efficient use of space. “I always tell my clients they should have them,” he said.

For a high-traffic area like the kitchen, Mr. Gorrivan said, he almost always has banquettes upholstered in a fabric that’s suitable for indoor and outdoor use. “It’s engineered really well, and any stains come out of the fibers,” he said. “It lasts forever.”

Indoor-outdoor fabrics have come a long way from the stiff, uncomfortable textiles of yesteryear, he added. “You’d be amazed: usually, you can’t even tell that it’s an outdoor fabric,” he said. “They’ve gotten so good and so chic that you can even get indoor-outdoor velvets.” Some of his favorite manufacturers include DeLany & Long, Duralee, Knoll and Perennials.

If you’ve already selected a fabric that isn’t naturally stain-resistant, Mr. Gorrivan said, you could have it treated by a fabric protection service like Fiber-Seal, “but I really think that indoor-outdoor fabric is a better way to go.”

Mr. Gorrivan recommends a fabric with a small-scale pattern or subtle color variations, rather than a solid color. “The more texture or pattern, the more sins you can hide,” he said. “I would go with a tight, textured pattern, like a nice weave.”

You might also want to take a close look at the condition of the upholstery in the rest of your home, even if you’ll be taking most of it with you. If your furniture is dirty, most of it can be steam-cleaned, Mr. Roberts said. “The couch, the chairs and the slipcovers.”

It doesn’t cost much, he said, and it will help give buyers the best impression of your home.

Q. My apartment is on the market, and I recently learned that the building next door is planning to add three more stories and that my apartment will lose two east-facing windows. Do I have to tell prospective buyers?

A. Maybe, and regardless of whether you have to, you probably should, say our experts.

Although New York is still generally a "buyer-beware" state, says real estate lawyer Alan Fried, and "while generally a seller is not obligated to voluntarily disclose negative conditions about a property being sold--other than a few government-required disclosures like lead paint--a seller may not actively conceal a condition or make affirmative misrepresentations."

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Q. I've been an independent marketing consultant for five years and I want to buy an apartment. Income-wise, I had one bad year three years ago but other than it's been pretty steady at around $225,000 a year. Still, I've heard co-op boards have a bias against self-employed buyers. Should I even bother looking at co-ops? If so, do you have any suggestions for how to present my income and self-employed status in the best light?

A. Co-ops have historically been cautious about approving freelancers and entrepreneurs, but the times they are a-changin', according to some of our experts.

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A. "While it's not absolutely critical that an agent has prior experience in your building or neighborhood, it can certainly be an advantage," says Manhattan real estate broker Gordon Roberts.
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A. Should you be concerned? Maybe. Maybe not. Due to the variety and depth of our experts’ very interesting responses (six from real estate brokers, three from real estate lawyers and one from an appraiser), we’re departing from our usual format and printing each reply individually.

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A. According to the real estate brokers on our expert panel, it’s perfectly okay to bring in your own broker later even though it may make the seller’s broker (who stands to earn the entire commission instead of half by representing both sides) a bit cranky.

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However, I have one wall that is exposed brick that I'd really like to paint white. I've asked around, and most people say that I shouldn't paint over it, and then they wax poetic about how much they love the look of exposed brick in general.

I, too, am fond of the look. However, my wall is not is the static, neat looking kind that most people think of.

It's messy with mortar caked over the brick in some places, the bricks are different colors in spots and (most significantly) there are several areas and large holes that have been cemented over the years that make the whole wall just look messy.

Would painting the brick negatively affect my resale value when it comes time to put it on the market? In photos, the wall will probably look great, but up close, it's like a hot mess. What do buyers think when they see exposed brick or when they see it painted?

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You know how co-op board interviews are this intimidating New York Thing that rich people worry about? Well, it's not just people -- we read yesterday that people's dogs are now having to pass these interviews along with their humans. It's true! If you're trying to get into a co-op and your dog is a bit barky or likes to jump -- basically, if your dog sometimes messes up and acts like a dog -- you may be out of luck. We asked around and found out some advice for making sure your doggy passes its interview.

Gordon Roberts, a broker with Warburg Realty, told us that "as a broker, I try to smooth the way for the meeting." This includes helping the owners prepare a "profile" of the dog for the board to look at pre-interview.

"New York is so atypical of other real estate markets," Roberts said. "This is kind of an 'only-in-New-York' thing.'" I'll say!

We also spoke with Andrea Arden, a professional dog trainer. She said that demand for co-op board interview training has gone up in the past five years. She trains dogs in things like "elevator etiquette," "walking nicely," and being able to be quiet when they're alone. Apparently, sometimes during an interview, the humans will just put the dog alone in a room to test whether or not it will bark. "There's not always much you can do," she said. Besides muzzling the dog, I guess.

Arden sets up sort-of "rehearsals" in which the dog is led through a series of situations that mimic a potential meeting. Dogs also take a "Canine Good Citizen" test that some co-op boards look at. "People are now doing things to build their pet's résumé," Arden said. Dogs! With résumés! Maybe we should just give up and consider them people now.

Let's get servicey: What breeds are a better pick for this kind of thing? Arden said that dachshunds, beagles, and Yorkshire terriers, while small, are a pretty barky little group of dogs. Which, clearly, you're not really going for. On the other end of the spectrum, there are some bigger dogs that "co-op boards will automatically raise an eyebrow about."

Dogs are also taught something called "hand targeting," which is basically a doggy handshake in which the dog uses its nose and gently nudges your hand. This is radically different from our family dog's greeting method of knocking you down to the ground while licking your face, and much more appropriate for polite society.

Rich-people buildings are weird. Their doormen play Tooth Fairy, and your dog needs a résumé to get in. Maybe just get a cat? Though surely that's a whole other can of Fancy Feast.

Two-bed, two-bath prewar 2nd-floor walk-up on a cul-de-sac on East 72nd Street (in one of the Upper East Side's "Black and White" buildings) overlooks East River and features oversized windows and a roomy kitchen with under-the-counter outside-vented washer/dryer. $950,000, $1,794/mo maintenance. [Warburg]

Q. I'm looking at buying a two-bedroom apt in Park Slope, but the bedrooms are extremely small (5'10"x14'1" and 8'2"x14'1").

I need a two-bedroom and can't really afford anything bigger, but do you think that the small bedrooms are going to make it difficult to resell in the future or are there enough buyers in Park Slope that would find this layout and lower price range desirable?

A. That all depends, say the brokers we checked in with.

“A small two bedroom if priced right will always have a buyer,” says Terry Naini, an agent who works in brownstone and downtown Brooklyn. “That said, the specific location, condition, and health of the building are paramount.”

A small two-bedroom close to multiple train lines and the park with low monthly charges will sell easier than one that is further from the trains, with high carrying costs in a walk-up building, notes Naini.

Manhattan broker Gordon Roberts wondered if your two-bedroom is actually a one-bedroom in disguise.

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Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Q. Last night our elderly neighbor went out and left her dinner cooking on the stove, causing a panic when the hallway filled with smoke and bad smells and set off smoke alarms.
Fortunately the super was around and let himself into her apartment to shut off the stove before things got worse. But who knows whether we'll be so lucky next time.
What do people do about elderly neighbors' safety (and their own)?

A. This situation is unfortunately common. But it's possible to preserve dignity and safety at the same time.

As a first step, your managing agent and/or board members should meet with your neighbor to share their concerns and suggest some safety measures, says property manager Michael Wolfe. Some suggestions include stove timers and smoke alarms as well as automatic water valve shut-offs to prevent accidental floods.

It may also be time to reach out to your neighbor's family.

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